Impossible Decision
by PrinRue
Summary: "How do you make an impossible decision like this? When everything hangs in the balance, when your only child's life is on the line, when everyone is looking to you to give the final go-ahead to change him forever?" Takes place during the first movie between the battle of the Red Death and Hiccup's waking on Berk.


**Wow this story is, like, kinda uncharacteristic of me. I mean, we all know I love me some emotional pain (lol) but physical pain? That's new. Maybe it's my insanity waiting for school to END ALREADY (only one week to go from today!). **

**But oh well, this happened.**

**It takes place during that blank spot in the first HTTYD, from when Stoick finds Hiccup alive after the Red Death to when he wakes up on Berk.**

**I imagine that considering the hierarchy of the times, they would need the chief's approval to do any sort of drastic medical procedure. But how can he give his approval when it's his own son? **

**Enjoy! **

"Chief!"

The voice sounded far away, and he wasn't even sure if it was real.

"Chief!"

He couldn't look away.

_"Chief!"_

Stoick looked up to the voice source, his expression more shell-shocked than he'd ever been seen before.

"We need your approval, Chief."

Stoick looked back down at the makeshift operating table, still not understanding what they were saying.

"Stoick, we can't do it without your say so!" That voice was of his longtime friend, Gobber. Yet he still couldn't process what was being said.

"We need to do it now, or we'll lose him, sir!" That voice wasn't familiar.

A frightened whimper sounded in the corner of the ship. _The dragon. _

Yet still nothing registered. It was as if the boat was in a vacuum, all air and sound being sucked out with each passing moment.

"Chief, please, he's going to die!"

What was he doing? Stoick's gaze returned to the table, where his son lay unconscious, burning with fever and deathly pale.

_His son. It was all his fault. If only he'd listened to him, to his warnings about going to the nest-_

"I- I…" the chief started, his voice weaker than anyone had ever heard it.

_How do you do it? How do you make an impossible decision like this? When everything hangs in the balance, when your only child's life is on the line, when everyone is looking to you to give the final go-ahead to change him forever?_

With every ounce of strength he had left, the man choked out two words. "Do it."

The others grimly nodded, turning to the medic Viking onboard.

Stoick wouldn't watch. He couldn't. But that didn't stop him from hearing. And every heart wrenching cry tore him up a little more. It was his fault.

A memory danced before his eyes, of when his son was around one and a half. It had taken a long time, much longer than the others in his generation, but at around 18 months, he finally took his first solo steps. It had filled Stoick with pride, seeing his child finally growing. It had affirmed his belief that Hiccup would make it and become the strongest of them all.

The tiny boy was wobbly, and only walked for a few steps before falling, but it was one of the most beautiful moments of the chief's life.

He wondered if he'd ever get to see him do it again.

When the cries behind him had been silent for a minute, Stoick finally turned around. The solemn eyes of the others aboard the ship bore into him, and Gobber set a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"He's out now, Stoick. Prob'ly for quite a while."

Stoick simply nodded, his voice not seeming to work at the moment. He made his way to the table, now covered with a wool blanket. He tried not to think about how small Hiccup looked on the wooden boards, or how fragile. He tried not to look at the new empty space under the blanket, something he wasn't sure he could get used to. He tried just to focus on his unconscious face, slightly tense in pain despite the sleep.

Stoick sat down gently on the edge of the table, the wood creaking but not waking the boy. He brushed fever-soaked bangs from Hiccup's eyes, yet still he didn't react. Not that Stoick had expected him to…

"Oh, son… I'm so sorry this 'appened. If I 'ad just listened to yeh…" Finally the man allowed himself to glance down, tears in his eyes. "Please, can yeh ever forgive me, Hiccup?" His eyes lingered a moment longer on the dead space where the blanket should've been displaced, before flitting back to his face. "I… I want teh make it up to yeh. Not tha' I deserve it, but… I promise, I'll do wha'ever I can to help yeh. Like I should've done in the firs' place…"

Stoick ran his large fingers through his son's hair one last time before sighing and standing up. He scanned the ship, seeing that all the others' eyes were turned down. Expect one. The dragon.

Stoick and the Night Fury held eye contact for what seemed like hours, but was probably only seconds. Finally, Stoick started toward him apprehensively, the dragon (Toothless, Hiccup called him?) never breaking his intense gaze.

The burly man kneeled down in front of the black beast, his head slightly bowed in submission. Toothless softened his gaze slightly at the gesture.

"I'm… sorry." He said softly. "I should've listened to 'im… but I can't change the past, no matter how much I want to." He chanced a look up at Toothless, relieved to see the dragon's large green eyes no longer fierce. "But the most impor'ant part of bein' chief is to realize my mistakes and rectify 'em. And… I'd like teh start with you… if you'll let me." With that, Stoick uneasily lifted his hand, fingers as relaxed as he could make them, toward the Night Fury's head. Toothless narrowed his eyes for a moment, recalling all the horrible things this human had done, not only to dragons, but to his own child. Yet, here he was, offering to make it right. So, still a bit apprehensive, Toothless closed his eyes and let his snout touch the man's hand. He felt fingers spread over his nose, scratching ever so slightly.

"Thank you, Toothless." Stoick said, before letting his hand slide away and standing up slowly. He felt the ship rock sharply, indicating they'd entered shallower waters.

"We'll be back a' Berk soon." He said, his voice a little stronger but still obviously tinged with pain. "I want all of yeh to clear a path when we arrive." He looked back at his son's still form on the table, the only indication of his life being the shaky rise and fall of the blanket. "We're bringing Hiccup home."

_And we're going to do everything we can to help him feel like he belongs. Like we should've done from the start. _

_Like I should've done. _

**Like I said, a bit out of the norm for me. Sorry if it's vague, but I'm not one for writing the explicit stuff (hence why I made Stoick turn around lol). But I figure that the vagueness gives it its intensity, yeah?**

**See you peoples next time!**


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